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Seven new details have emerged after Florida Learjet crash left nine dead
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New findings in the investigation into what caused the deadly Learjet 60 crash in Florida have been revealed as experts try to uncover the truth.
On November 1, the Bahamas-bound private jet went from flying at an altitude of 35,000 ft to plummeting into the ground in just 76 seconds.
Chilling audio between crew members, 55-year-old captain Jeff Gregory and 20-year-old co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueiras, revealed that they were warned about weather conditions.
The horrific incident resulted in the deaths of all nine on board, all of whom have been identified.
Those on board included entrepreneur Adam Robinson, 44, his wife Helen Sharp, their four-year-old daughter Emma, and their two-year-old son Charlie.
The family was traveling with their nanny, Anita Maria Apellido Cetina, and two close friends, Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr.
Now, seven new details have emerged as evidence.
Two theories about when the left elevator broke off
It seems like experts can't decide on which part of the plane's tail broke off, as Aviation Safety expert Jeff Guzzetti told the AP that parts of the elevator breaking off were caused by the nosedive.
He said that it was not the reason behind the nosedive, as if it broke off at altitude, debris would be much further away from the crash site.
On the other hand, former NTSB member John Goglia explained that flight-tracking data appeared to show the aircraft leveling off for a few seconds at about 8,000ft, before nosediving back to Earth.
Speaking to The Guardian, he said that the tail pieces may have come off when the captain tried to pull up sharply to try and level out.
Goglia told the publication: “He apparently leveled off for brief moments at 8,000ft and to accomplish that he likely overstressed the tail and the horizontal stabilizer separated from the airplane.”
Another component of the jet may have been missing
Law&Crime has suggested through freeze frames in videos of the crash that the entire horizontal stabilizer was missing from the Learjet’s tail before impact.
This is a theory which is yet to be confirmed, but it could be massive if proven, as the horizontal stabilizer provides pitch stability.
Debris was found miles away
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said their investigation found that most of the Learjet 60's left elevator was recovered in three pieces, scattered up to 3.8 miles from the crash site.
The NTSB also swiftly dismissed rumors of a link between the crash and President Donald Trump.
Board member Tom Chapman said in a briefing that the parts were 'quite some distance away' from the crash site, leading investigators to determine they fell off before impact.
"Knowing that it was lost is a very important piece of evidence in terms of pointing us towards other things to investigate," he said.
He also confirmed that weather conditions are 'a key focus of the investigation.'
Crew's working conditions to be investigated
Retired former Northwest Airlines pilot Captain David Funk told Law&Crime Network that investigators will look for evidence around the pilots being fatigued or overworked.
This will help to identify if the crash was less of a human error and more that the jet was at fault.
He said: "We have our knowns and we have our unknowns," he began to explain, adding: "We can figure out what the crew's training records were.
"We can figure out what they've been doing for the last two weeks. Were they overly fatigued? Have they had long day after long day with short nights between them?"
Funk also said that 'the maintenance records' will be key in showing if there were any 'structural issues with the tail and there been any repairs, any cracking, any airworthiness directives' and more.
He suggested the probability of being caught in an 'unsurvivable storm', or something else out of their hands.
The Learjet may have been under extreme conditions
Funk also suggested that the elevator, positioned at the top of the tail, would only break off at extreme pressure, adding that the aircraft would need to be 'overstressed and it takes a lot of force to pull an elevator off the airplane'.
He explained that tracking information revealed the jet 'gained 15,000, maybe 20,000ft in less than 20 minutes' due to a developing storm in the area.
The former pilot also claimed, like other aviation experts recently, that when the jet climbed above 30,000 feet, 'severe turbulence and rapidly developing clear icing is a possibility'.
He said that this model could only withstand certain speeds between its maximum operating speed and stall speed.
"If either one of those is exceeded, the airplane either goes into Mach tuck where the nose tucks down because of the severe drag that's caused by exceeding its maximum Mach number or it stalls," Funk warned.
If this were to happen, it could cause the plane's nose to drop as the plane struggles to hold its altitude.